Attached is a picture of mine. I got it from a studio in Sydney a few years ago, and it looks like it has worked for a living. Apparently it has been on the road with Australian bands Empire of the Sun and Pnau (the latter's tour stencil is still visible on the road case). It may have been delivered new in Australia, as it is on 240 volt power with no obvious conversion. I use it with three 4 ohm Schroeder cabs (18, 15 and 12 inch drivers). Two are visible in the photo.
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Official Fender 400ps Club
- Thread starter IronRadio
- Start date
Wow, Bflat, you have "The Full Monty" - all three 18" horn cabs. I can feel the thunder by just looking at this rig!
Hi, fellas. I had one bought new back in '71. Does $1200 sound right? Long story short, I sold it a lifetime ago, and strangely enough the buyer didn't want the stand! I still have it... got most of the chrome, all the wheels... lol... but 50 years on it s well. I'll try to post a couple pics. Anyone need/ want it? 
AS PURCHASED IN NEW BRUNSWICK CANADA FOR 600 BUX IN 2006. RESCUED FROM A DAMP GARAGE.
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ARE YOU SHOUTING BECAUSE YOU ARE NOW DEAF FROM PLAYING THROUGH IT?
I had one about 42 years ago 1 cab the head and the chrome stand .
Traded it for a black Les Paul which I also wish I still had .
Was living in Alberta at the time I think they were very rare in Canada and I remember it being old at that time .
Nice to see some still exist .
Traded it for a black Les Paul which I also wish I still had .
Was living in Alberta at the time I think they were very rare in Canada and I remember it being old at that time .
Nice to see some still exist .
Hello, group! First time poster here.
I'm posting because I have a 400PS that I "inherited" from my best friend and amp guru, who died earlier this year.
The 400PS is not running, and it's not completely assembled. It was taken partially apart, but all major parts are still on the chassis. My friend was going to do SOMETHING to it and get it back into service, but what exactly, I don't know.
All the major parts are present. Transformers, tube sockets, circuit boards. Some minor stuff may be missing. I think there's a metal tube shield that should be there that I never found when I cleaned out the shop to the bare walls. Probably needs a handful of screws and general hardware.
I'll get some photos of it up for your amusement.
I do want to sell this unit, as it is now, before I get a wild hair and decide to try to rebuild it myself. I could, I'm an amp tech in my own right, but I'd rather take a reasonable price for it now and not spend any money on it.
You know these weigh about 90 pounds. Shipping won't be cheap.
Alternatively, I will have it with me (if no deal is made before then) at the Orlando FL guitar expo on January 28, 29, and 30th, 2022. I'll have two tables and be selling off a variety of amps, speakers, and other things I've accumulated.
Orlando International Guitar and Music Expo
I'm not associated with the show organizers. I'm just an individual looking to get rid of some gear I wound up with.
Since I may not remember to check this site regularly, if you are interested, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]
I'm posting because I have a 400PS that I "inherited" from my best friend and amp guru, who died earlier this year.
The 400PS is not running, and it's not completely assembled. It was taken partially apart, but all major parts are still on the chassis. My friend was going to do SOMETHING to it and get it back into service, but what exactly, I don't know.
All the major parts are present. Transformers, tube sockets, circuit boards. Some minor stuff may be missing. I think there's a metal tube shield that should be there that I never found when I cleaned out the shop to the bare walls. Probably needs a handful of screws and general hardware.
I'll get some photos of it up for your amusement.
I do want to sell this unit, as it is now, before I get a wild hair and decide to try to rebuild it myself. I could, I'm an amp tech in my own right, but I'd rather take a reasonable price for it now and not spend any money on it.
You know these weigh about 90 pounds. Shipping won't be cheap.
Alternatively, I will have it with me (if no deal is made before then) at the Orlando FL guitar expo on January 28, 29, and 30th, 2022. I'll have two tables and be selling off a variety of amps, speakers, and other things I've accumulated.
Orlando International Guitar and Music Expo
I'm not associated with the show organizers. I'm just an individual looking to get rid of some gear I wound up with.
Since I may not remember to check this site regularly, if you are interested, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]
A guy semi-local to me has a 400PS for sale on FBMP.
He is asking $5,500, which seems rather ambitious
I was always fascinated by these amps, read about them back in the day but to this day I have never seen one for realz, the only ones I have actually even seen pictures of are in this thread and if you do an image search for them.
IIRC these things cost WAY more than a new SVT back when introduced, and you had to have 3 cabinets to get the full juice out of them. Ampeg recommended you use TWO fridges initially but I think a lot of people did not do that, they just bought one cabinet and lived with that.
I gotta believe the price and the fact it came out around the same time as the 360/361 and the SVT kind of killed it's sales potential.
Hell I think you could buy a 360 and TWO 301 bottoms for the price of just the PS400 head.
They are way cool and definitely a moonshot for Fender; seems like they built the thing to show those young upstarts from Ampeg and Acoustic they could do such a thing.
Analogeezer
He is asking $5,500, which seems rather ambitious
I was always fascinated by these amps, read about them back in the day but to this day I have never seen one for realz, the only ones I have actually even seen pictures of are in this thread and if you do an image search for them.
IIRC these things cost WAY more than a new SVT back when introduced, and you had to have 3 cabinets to get the full juice out of them. Ampeg recommended you use TWO fridges initially but I think a lot of people did not do that, they just bought one cabinet and lived with that.
I gotta believe the price and the fact it came out around the same time as the 360/361 and the SVT kind of killed it's sales potential.
Hell I think you could buy a 360 and TWO 301 bottoms for the price of just the PS400 head.
They are way cool and definitely a moonshot for Fender; seems like they built the thing to show those young upstarts from Ampeg and Acoustic they could do such a thing.
Analogeezer
I get the impression the PS400 is somewhat tricky to work on and also somewhat finicky/hard on the output tubes.
The metal cylinder you mention is most likely a tube shield, which is an easy and cheap part to replace (and possibly redundant). I suppose someone could also mistake an electrolytic capacitor for a metal cylinder. Respectfully, if you don't know the difference, you have no business poking around in this monster, as the plate voltage is spec'ed on the schematic as 700V DC. You could easily get a lethal shock, so proceed at your own risk.
Schematics are available online and you should be able to find various threads that discuss some of the difficulty people have in repairing/maintaining this model. I think this FAQ has some useful info: The Fender 400-PS FAQ (timeelect.com) ,but I haven't not read through it recently.
FYI, In order to list things "for sale" on TB you need to be a supporting member. AFAIK, while it is reportedly a very good sounding amp, I don't believe it generally demands a very high price despite its rarity. As has been mentioned, you have to run three speakers to get the full power and benefit of this head; so it's not very practical for most people.
Good luck!
Don't worry, I'm a very experienced, fully qualified electronics technician. I've been building and fixing electronics of many kinds for 35 years. You name the application, I've probably fixed something that serves it. Avionics, medical, power control, audio, video, radio, test instruments, equipment with voltages up to 40,000 volts in it, and so on. I'm semi-retired and work on guitar amps pretty much every week. I'm safe around high voltage tube amps and am also competent to repair and rebuild them.
I like to focus on keeping old Marshalls running in top shape. But I'll work on anything that has a power cord sticking out of one end of it.
I like to focus on keeping old Marshalls running in top shape. But I'll work on anything that has a power cord sticking out of one end of it.
